Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton were in a band together what was simply called "The Jam Band". While in the band, Joe Perry met Steven Tyler, who was on vacation at the time. Hamilton and Perry then moved to Boston, where they met Joey Kramer, who would later become the drummer for Aerosmith. They met up with Steven Tyler (who was an acquaintance of Kramer) in October of 1970 and, completing the formation with rhythm guitarist Ray Tabano (who would be replaced with Brad Whitford the following year), Aerosmith was born.

The band became locally successful after doing several live performances. In 1973, they released their first album, Aerosmith. The highest charting single was "Dream On", which peaked at number 59. In 1974, they released Get Your Wings. This album featured "Train Kept A-Rollin'" and "Same Old Song and Dance." In 1975, Aerosmith released Toys in the Attic, which was their best selling album and their most highly regarded. "Sweet Emotion" was the highest charting single, followed by the re-released "Dream On".

In 1976, Rocks was released, which featured "Last Child" and was considered on par with Toys in the Attic. The next album, Draw the Line, was not as critically acclaimed as the two previous albums, but the song Draw the Line was a small hit. In 1978, the live album, Live! Bootleg was released.

After the 1979 release of Night in the Ruts, Joe Perry left the band, being replaced by Jimmy Crespo. A few years later, Brad Whitford, too, left the band, his replacement being Rick Dufay. In 1982, Rock in a Hard Place (the only album recorded by the band with Crespo and Dufay on guitars) was released. It was considered a commercial failure and failed to produce a hit single.

In 1984, both Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were accepted back into the band. In 1985, the band released the album, Done With Mirrors, which only went gold. In 1986, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler appeared in Run D.M.C's cover of Walk This Way, marking their true comeback. By the mid 1980s, heavy drug use had caught up with the band, and they all attended drug rehabilitation.

In 1987, Permanent Vacation was released, with the hit single, "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)". In 1989, Pump was released, featuring "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Love in an Elevator". The Pump Tour lasted most of 1990.

After a short break, the band went to work on their follow up to Pump, Get a Grip. It was their first album to debut at #1. It went on to sell over 7 million copies. After firing their manager in the mid nineties, the band released Nine Lives in 1997. The album was less successful than the two previous albums. In 1998, they released their only #1 single to date: "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", whose success was propelled by its inclusion in the soundtrack of one of that year's blockbuster movies, Armageddon, which starred Steven's daughter Liv Tyler, along with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck.

Aerosmith had starred in two other video games before their own Guitar Hero version in the mid-90's: Midway's 1994 rail-gun shooter Revolution X (much maligned in the medium merely due to its subpar home ports), in which the player is helped by the band in confronting a despotic paramilitary organization called NON, and Virtual Music's 1995 musical game Quest for Fame in which, much like the GH series, the player is a budding rock guitarist working his way to become a rockstar. This game, instead of a guitar controller, used as its peripheral simply a pick, which the player had to strum across any object that could simulate a guitar, like a tennis racket.

In 1999, at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster opened to the public. During the ride, Aerosmith music plays continuously.

In 2001, the band performed in the half time show of the super bowl. This was used as a venue for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. In the same year, the band's 13th studio album was released, Just Push Play. The single "Jaded" made it to the top ten.

The long awaited blues ablum, Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. This was considered as the band "returning to their roots." The band is currently working on a new album, having just finished the work on Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.